One of the most respected members of the Sooner staff, Merv Johnson joined the Oklahoma family in 1979 as an assistant football coach. Over the next 20 years, he helped the Sooners build a 150-67-5 record, win one national championship, five Big Eight titles and seven bowl games.

He was promoted into his current position in 1998. In that role, he coordinates the day-to-day activities off the field for Sooner football players and deals with on-campus recruiting efforts. Johnson serves as the color commentator on OU's football broadcasts in addition to various administrative duties including serving as the pro scout liaison and the coordinating the football walk-on program.

He helped produce 19 All-Americans as a Sooner coach and over his 38-year coaching career was a member of coaching staffs that won four national titles (at Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Arkansas).

He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Arkansas before returning to his alma mater, the University of Missouri, to serve as an assistant coach in 1960-61. He returned to Arkansas as an assistant from 1962-74, then joined the football staff at Notre Dame for the 1975-78 seasons.

He was inducted into the Oklahoma Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2002 and was the first recipient of the National Football Foundation Integrity Award in 2003. The award was later re-named in his honor. In 2001, he received the All-American Football Foundation's Mike Campbell Lifetime Achievement Award.

A former Mizzou football player, Johnson was an All-Big Seven tackle for the Tigers as a senior. He served as a team co-captain and played in the Blue-Gray All-Star game. He earned Academic All-Big Seven honors and was honored as the league's most Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year.

A Missouri native, he has two grown children and is the proud grandparent of seven.

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